UK-based rocket start-up Orbex is appointing administrators, the UK version of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A proposed bail-out from a German based business (The Exploration Company) has failed to materialise.

On February 11th, Orbex said it had examined several merger and acquisition options in an effort to stay afloat but none of had come to fruition. Orbex had been planning to launch a rocket later this year from SaxaVord, in northern Scotland.

Phil Chambers, Orbex’s CEO, commented: “Disappointing doesn’t come close to describing how we feel about this moment. We have been successfully developing a sustainable, world-class sovereign space launch capability for the UK and were on the cusp of our first test flights later this year. It is no secret that designing and building space rockets to enable a launch service is a capital-intensive, highly advanced process with a long development cycle that creates a ‘scale-up’ funding gap. Institutional support is a crucial to bridge this gap and we have worked tirelessly to try to find both funding or rescue solutions.”

Orbex will continue trading while all options for the future of the company are explored, including potential sale of all or parts of its business or assets. The notice provides short-term protection and allows the business time to secure as positive an outcome as possible for its creditors, employees and wider stakeholders.

Several Orbex merger and acquisition opportunities have also been explored, with none resulting in a favourable outcome.

As for the position at the SaxaVord Spaceport on Orbex entering administration, SaxaVord Spaceport CEO Scott Hammond said: “While this is a sad day for Orbex, and for its staff who will now be looking for new jobs, it will have very little impact on SaxaVord. While we had agreed Heads of Terms with the company, Orbex had never reached a position to start on site at SaxaVord and let us develop infrastructure for them to launch from. Our business model has always been multi-client because at the outset we recognised that in what is a very competitive rocket launch market not all players would succeed. For us, fortunately, it is business as usual as we work with our other clients on testing, test flights and launches in the months and years ahead. SaxaVord is very much ready for launch.”

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Categories: Articles, Business, Satellite

Tags: orbex, SaxaVord